Panel Saw approx £1500

[willy wonka]

Hi all

Was wondering if you could give me advice on purchasing a panel saw, what would we do with £1500-£2000 if we had to buy one. It needs to have a scorer for MF MDF veneered boards etc.

I was looking at the axminster ss-1600MH, or Fox do a 10" one, looks good for the money but will they last ok? I work by myself and wont be using it a huge amount, 20-30 sheets a month i would estimate. Would like the Jet, or a rojek but cant afford it, boo hoo

Cheers ya'll

 

[trousers]

How big a panel do you want to cut?
Not familiar with either of these but you won't be able to use the sliding table to rip the length of an 8' board - 1600mm maximum according to the spec.

 

[willy wonka]

8 x 4 foot boards, but would rip the boards on the rip fence, not the sliding table so should be ok there

thanks though

 

[Streepips]

The Fox 540 I have one and they are decently engineered and can handle sheet work
and a better sliding carriage than the Jet as well.
This is the second Fox table saw I have bought, first one was the earlier version with the less substantial sliding carriage, but still used it to cut 8x4s and lots of solid timber as well, with the help of a support table alongside.
Used this machine for 3 years, 6 days a week in a timber yard and it was used for everything but heavy ripping work which was done a 14" 6HP wadkin rip saw.
The Fox will need a 16 amp supply or it will keep tripping out.
Apart from that it never had a problem

 

[JonnyD]

8 x 4 foot boards, but would rip the boards on the rip fence, not the sliding table so should be ok there

thanks though

For ease of work you will find a slider than can rip cut an 8 X 4 sheet to be a real benefit. Often sheet edges are not actually straight or are damaged and pushing a full sheet on your own against the rip fence can be hard work to keep it straight.

For the top end of your budget you will probably be able to get a fairly decent secondhand industrial panel saw and a good one for about £2500 to £3000 which will perform loads better than the fox or axminster. Its worth checking out local auctions and ebay as there are bargains to be had.

The downsides of getting a secondhand one is that you dont know how hard a life its had unless you go and check it out. Most also need 3 phase power. They also take up a lot of space but if you intend on using the rip fence to cut 8 X 4 sheets a full size panel saw will not take up much more space.

Jon

 

[trousers]

Agree with JD
Also - 20/30 boards a month :shock: Think I'd spend some of the money on a handheld circular saw and guide rail and do the 8' rips that way.
It would probably be more accurate than using the rip fence. In fact it would probabaly be more accurate even if you made your own guide rail.
Then use the slider to do the crosscuts.

 

[Oryxdesign]

There's plenty of industrial stuff on ebay at the moment, I think you should buy a braked machine.
Your miles from me but if you pass through kent you are welcome to view my set up.
Simon

 

[DangerousDave]

What about a vertical panel saw. This ones a little over £2K. My local timber yard has one and it's constantly in use. Doesn't take up as much room either.

 

[JonnyD]

A vertical panel saw is a good option if all you do is panel work as it saves a fair bit of space but can be a bit limited on angled cuts etc. You would still need a table saw if you intend doing any solid timber work as well.

Jon

 

[Oryxdesign]

Vertical panel saws don't generally have the repeatability of a slider and I'm not aware of one with a scorer. They get harder to use as the board gets smaller so unless space is the deciding issue I'd probably stick with a slider especially if you are using MFC. A VPC is great for ripping large sheets to a manageable size though, somedays I wish I had one as well.
Si

 

[joiner_sim]

We use a vertical panel saw. We made a jig fopr it so it could cut worktops at 45 degree angles. I dont really know what you mean about a slider, however I find that our saw is great for repetitive work. It's an ELCON panel saw. http://www.redmond-machinery.com/elcon_r.htm The extraction on it is rubbish, not sure if this is to do with our extraction system though, thats the only fault I have with it.